Penalty kick sinks STA

It wasn't the loss that bothered St. Thomas Aquinas High School boys soccer coach Scott Suleski, it was the nature of the game's only goal.

The third-seeded Saints (14-3-1) were ousted from the Class I tournament Friday by No. 11 Souhegan, 1-0, and the visiting Sabers (11-6-1), who upset No. 6 Lebanon in the first round, netted the winning goal and the game's only goal in the 65th minute on a penalty kick by senior forward Jonathan Harris.

St. Thomas was called for a hand ball inside the box and Harris buried the game winner, placing it in the left corner just out of the reach of a diving Ken Grade, the Saints' goalie.

"All season long we've never got a penalty called," said St. Thomas coach Scott Suleski. "We've had guys taken down in the box and nobody gets called. This is the first time I've ever seen one called in a playoff game. I just think that was so brutal.

"The kid's hand was on the ground," Suleski added. "The ball hit his arm. It wasn't like he batted the ball out of the way or something."

"He's a great finisher and that was his 17th goal of the year," said Souhegan coach David Saxe of Harris's game winning kick.

But it held up in a game where the visiting Sabers were able to keep the ball in the Saints' end longer than not, particularly in the second half, and the Saints had the best chances to score.

St. Thomas thought it broke through in the 23rd minute when Ross Suleski crossed a ball from the right, just outside of the box. Tom Gibney rose up above a pack in the middle of the box and headed it off the left post. The St. Thomas bench reacted like it had scored, but there was no whistle to signify a stoppage and the ball bounced back across the front of the goal mouth and eventually rolled harmlessly out of play.

"Ross (Suleski) served him up a good ball and I thought it was in," said coach Suleski, "I mean they played a great game, but it got a little chippy in the end. They were getting frustrated. They still held it together and pressured them right until the end."

St. Thomas put some pressure on after the penalty kick, the best chance coming in the 71st minute after a Souhegan turnover in its own end near the left corner. The ball ended up at the feet of a wide-open Ross Suleski inside the box and a scant 25 feet from the goal. He turned and launched a hard shot that sailed over Souhegan goalie Adam Tofte and over the goal.

"However, that second half you have to admit the ball was in that end almost the entire half," Saxe added. "We were pressing up, the second half was really ours."

Saxe added that when the two teams played in Amherst in September, he did notice a few things his team needed to adjust to. "We knew they were quite fast," he said. "They have three or four guys who play up top who we knew were really fast and another fast guy at left midfield. Those were the players, the speed we needed to look out for and we needed our center backs to provide depth to cover for that sort of thing. So we were really cautious about making sure we didn't get burned."

Saxe also said he wanted his team to play the ball wide and with the Saints' extra-wide pitch they were able to use the width successfully.

"I just feel terrible that they had to lose like that," added coach Suleski. "It would have been better if the other team had scored a goal than to get the penalty kick. ... I feel bad for the seniors, they had a great season, a great run. This team really came together and jelled well. We've taken it one game at a time and we knew this could happen anytime. We still weren't ready for it.

"We beat them at their house during the season (1-0), so they had some extra incentive to come down here," coach Suleski said. "It was a well-played game. Both teams played phenomenal, I think, and to have it decided by a penalty kick. But I'm really proud of the kids, great season. I have next year, the seniors don't."